Henry VIII
Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 until his death. He belonged to the Tudor line and is known today for seperating England from the Catholic church and his six sucessive wives. Connections As an infant, Henry was baptised by Richard Foxe in 1491, who was at the time the Bishop of Exeter. Shortly before becoming king, Henry seemed set on the path to marrying Eleanor of Austria. She was considered his betrothed in 1508 or perhaps earlier, but was tossed to the side in 1509, when Henry abruptly announced that he would marry Catherine of Aragon instead. Henry first met Catherine of Aragon in 1501, when he was 11 years old. At the time, Catherine was the betrothed of his elder brother, Arthur. Henry attended and had a major part in Arthur and Catherine's wedding. After Arthur's death, Henry and Catherine became betrothed in 1503. However, due to numerous complications - including the need for papal approval of the union, the issue of whether or not Arthur had consummated his marriage to Catherine, and a deteriorating relationship between England and Spain - put the betrothal on hold for years, with Catherine in a state of limbo. In 1505, when Henry turned 14 and was legally able to decide such matters for himself, he refused the marriage to Catherine. It was assumed that she would either return to Spain or remain in England as a diplomat. Henry began making arrangements to marry another princess, but after his father's death in 1509, he abruptly announced that he would marry Catherine after all. They were married in a quiet ceremony, and coronated king and queen together shortly after. Their relationship was a good one initially, though it became strained when Catherine repeatedly failed to give birth to a healthy child. After giving birth to their first child, Mary, in 1516, the relationship improved. However, Henry always kept mistresses, which Catherine had little choice but to gracefully put up with. But by 1525, Henry had grown increasingly impatient with Catherine's continuing inability to produce a male heir for him. As he himself had already fathered a healthy boy with one of his mistresses, he placed the blame entirely on Catherine. This, also heavily combined with the fact that he was anxious to have Anne Boleyn, pushed him to decide to annul his marriage with his queen. He attempted to convince the Pope that his marriage to Catherine was unlawful, but when this tactic did not work, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church and formed his own, highly controversial Church of England. In 1530, his marriage to Catherine annulled, he banished her from court and gave her chambers and belongs to Anne. Henry never saw Catherine again after this, and upon hearing of her death in 1536, he ordered that there be displays of public celebration in the streets. Henry was a colleague of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. Stafford had known Henry's father well, and had known Henry since he was a small boy. After Henry became king, Stafford was made a member of the Privy Council, and served many other posts at court as well. However, he was never a member of the king's inner circle, and was kept from ever having too much political power. The two men had a falling out in 1510, when he discovered that the king was keeping his sister, Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, as a mistress. The two later reconciled enough for Stafford to recieve further duties at court, however. In 1520, Henry was suspicious of Stafford, and ordered him investigated. It was discovered that Stafford had listened to prophecies of the king's death, and plotted to kill Henry. Servants of his supported these claims, and though the accusations seemed unlikely, the fact that Stafford was of old Plantagenet blood clouded Henry's judgement. Despite protests from Thomas More that there was no evidence against him but hearsay, Henry had Stafford executed in 1520. His inheritance was also taken from his children and heirs and taken back by the crown. One of Henry's first mistresses was Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, though she was married and also the sister of one of the members of his Privy Council. The affair began in 1510, but after Hastings' brother found out, she was sent away to a convent. However, the affair continued until about 1513. One of Henry's longest affairs was with his mistress Elizabeth Blount, who originally came to court as a maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon. She caught the king's eye, and became his mistress in 1514. At the time, she was 16 and Henry was 23. She remained very close to the king as his primary mistress for eight years, giving birth to his illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy, whom Henry hoped to one day legitimize and perhaps even make his heir. Their relationship ended in 1522. In 1510, Henry renewed his father's old friendship with King Louis XII of France, though this was an issue of much controversy. However, shortly afterward, Henry signed an agreement with Spain to ally themselves against France together, contradicting his new friendship with Louis. The English and Spanish waged war against France in 1511. The war ended in 1513 with little progress being made by the English except to drain the royal funds, after Henry signed an alliance with Louis and offered his sister Mary Tudor as Louis' wife. Henry had a strained colleague relationship with his father-in-law Ferdinand II of Aragon. The two kings were allies through most of their reigns, though during the Anglo-Spaniard war against France between 1511 - 1513, Ferdinand used Henry's wish to conquer Aquitaine to his own means. Henry's brother-in-law James IV of Scotland sided against Henry in the Anglo-Spaniard War against France, agreeing with Henry's enemy Louis XII to invade England while Henry was on a campaign in France. Henry met with Francis I of France in 1520, and both men were eager to strike up a friendship and further peace between their countries. However, Francis and Henry did not get along well, and both men's strong competitive streaks clashed. Thomas Wolsey was among Henry's closest confidantes and advisors, acting in various positions during his early reign. However, in 1529, he swiftly fell from the King's grace, when he failed to secure the annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Thomas More was one of the King's closest confidantes and advisors. Henry took Mary Boleyn as a mistress around 1521, despite the fact that she was already married. Her child, Henry Carey, whom she had in 1524, was later said to resemble Henry, and was suggested to have possibly been Henry's illegitimate son. Henry continued his relationship with Mary until she became pregnant with her second child, ending their affair in 1526 after a five year relationship. Henry took Anne Boleyn as a mistress in 1525, though this term did not exactly fit their relationship. Though they were certainly involved in a relationship, Anne refused the title of Royal Mistress, and is thought to have possibly withheld a sexual relationship with him until they were married. Henry's relationship with Anne certainly helped to push him strongly toward annulling his marriage to the queen Catherine of Aragon, and breaking with the Holy Roman Empire to do so. Anne and Henry were married at a small, secret wedding in Dover in 1532. They held an official wedding ceremony at court in 1533, and later in the year, Anne gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth. The fact that the child was a girl was a heavy blow to Henry, and after that the couple had frequent periods of marital strife. However, Anne had a series of miscarriages afterward, most notably one in 1536, which Anne said was due to a jousting accident that Henry had, but could also possibly be due to stress over Henry's relationship with his mistress Jane Seymour, whom he was beginning to more and more openly show affection and favor. This final miscarriage was thought to be the beginning of the end of Henry and Anne's marriage. In 1536, Anne fell swiftly from the King's favor, and was accused of adultery. She was tried on charges of treason, adultery, and possibly witchcraft, and found guilty. Five men, including her brother George Boleyn, were accused of having sexual relationships with the queen, though there was nearly no evidence to support this theory. The five men were executed, and Anne herself was executed by beheading two days later. Henry took Jane Seymour as his mistress in 1534, and as time went on began to show increasing ammounts of public affection and favor toward her, much to the rage of Anne Boleyn. After Anne's execution in 1536, Henry became engaged to Jane the very next day, and married her ten days later in Whitehall Palace. Seymour and Henry had a loving and stable relationship. She also encouraged him to reunite with his daughter Mary I. In 1537, she gave birth to a healthy male son, Edward VI, thus fulfilling Henry's deepest wish for a male heir. However, the birth had been a difficult one, and Seymour passed away due to the complications ten days later. Henry was struck with a deep grief, and wore black for three months. He did not marry again for three years. When he died in 1547, he was buried beside her. Thomas Cranmer was a member of Henry's inner circle, and one of his closest confidantes. Henry married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, in 1540, at the Palace of Placentia. However, Henry took a strong disliking to Anne, whom he thought ugly and dull, and searched desperately for a way out of the marriage even before their wedding day. After they married, they reportedly never slept together. Henry complained constantly to his advisors of Anne's many problems, even describing her "sagging breasts" and body odor. However, Anne herself seemed content with Henry as a husband, praising him to her own confidantes, and saying that at night he kissed her on the cheek sweetly and held her hand, before retiring to his own chambers. After five months of marriage, Henry voiced his wishes to end the marriage, on the grounds that it had never been consummated, which Anne confirmed. Anne agreed to have the union annuled. Though he had obviously been strongly opposed to having Anne as a wife, Henry seemed to demonstrate a fondness for Anne after their marriage ended, and even to have remained friends with her. He gave her a generous settlement of many castles and lands, including Richmond Palace and Hever Castle. He officially declared her a part of the royal family, and referred to her as "the king's beloved sister." She was also given higher authority than all other women in England, save for the king's wife and daughters. She visited the king often in court, and remained in his favor for the rest of his life. After annulling his marriage to Anne of Cleves, Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, in 1540. At the time, he was 49 and Howard was 19. He had already taken Howard as a mistress before they were married, giving the girl expensive gifts and praising her fresh beauty. However, Howard had an affair with a young courtier in 1541, which was soon found out by the king, who flew into a rage. She was imprisoned and executed in the Tower of London, and buried in an unmarked grave. Henry's sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr, caught his eye in early 1543, during which time she was serving in the household of his daughter Mary. Though she was at the time being courted by Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron of Sudeley, she thought it her duty to accept the attentions of the king over Seymour, and Henry had the courtier - his former brother-in-law through his former wife Jane Seymour - posted elsewhere, out of court. He married Parr five months later in Hampton Court Palace. She was the first Queen of England to also be named Queen of Ireland. Parr was a level headed and capable woman, and made many friends at court. She is also credited with encouraging Henry to reconcile with his daughter Mary. For a short time, there was a faltering in her favor at court when she began to disagree with the king about religion. Henry had an arrest warrant made, but Parr was informed of this and read the warrant before any further action could be taken. She went to the king and reconciled with him, claiming affectionately that she had only argued with him over religion in order to take his mind off of his painful leg ulcer. She was swiftly forgiven, and remained in the king's favor for the rest of his life. In his will, Henry ordered that Parr be treated and respected as the Queen of England would be, even after his death. He also gave her a very generous annual income. Places London, England, UK - Born here, 1491. Lived entire life here. Died here, 1547. Therouanne, France - Conquered this town, 1513. Tournai, Belgium - Conquered this town, 1513. Balinghem, France: Met French king here, 1520. Dover, Kent, England, UK - Held a secret wedding here, 1532. '''How Added - '''Randomly added him one day. Category:People Category:Historical Figures Category:Monarchs Category:1491 Births Category:1547 Deaths Category:People From England Category:Henry